Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-02-26
The view exouisitely bright and clear as


make the attempt, should fail to convey an
idea of the impression it made upon me atthe
time. Besides, it was not for long that we
were permitted to enjoy it, for Franz was all
eagerness 10 be down the arete before it got
much later.
We were soon on the rope again. Franz
led, then came, then Burns and the porter
an admirable man for the purpose, on &C
count of his weight and straightforward
up the rear II was in this order that We
commenced the descent.
All went well at first. Each man was
careful to use the rope as the rope ought to ,
be used-that is, by keeping it taut between
himself and the man in front Franz moved
downward careia'ly, and at each step
sounded the Snow with his AK as be had done |
On the way up. The position in faHt was one |
which needed care.
Upon our left the face Of the mountain fell
sharply away to the glacier below, distance |
OF over 5000 feet, and we dared not leave
the edge of the arete TO pass on to it; for |
upon this face there lay a quantity of fresh |
SNOW in q loose and dangerous condition. On ;
our right lay the dreaded coI1iee.
Suddenly Franz halted. Something seemed |
to trouble him. for more than once he struck |
his AK into the snow in front of ami beside |
him without moving forward. lie called to
me to pay out the full length of rope be- |
tween myself and him, which | did, and
again he advanced few steps. Then he
stopped, and turning round TO me, in slow
tones said, Herr, be very careful how yoG
tread here; take care only to put Your feet in
the steps make, forn-and this he added
very inIpressively-'-we are in great danger
here"
He had hardly spoken-in fact, the woris
were still i'll his mouth-when heard loud
crack It was sound such as | have never
heard before or since and can only describe
it as being like the CRATE of heavy wagon
upon frozen snow Then, without further
warning. the side Of the mountain seemed tC
break away, and with it Franz disappeared
For one second felt paralyzsd. The next.
scarcely knowing what did, bat with the in,
stinct of self preservation strong within me,
spTang to the left over the precipice, on the
opposite side TO that on which poor Franz
had disappeared. The rope ran out TO it,
fail length. and then | found myself power
less to move, anchored tightly to the edge OF
the arete, and with a strain upon my chest
from the pressure Of the rope which was well
nigh intolerable Burns and the porter had
seen what was coming, and had thrown
themselves fiat, so that when the jerk CAUSED
by my leap had come, they were well pre-
pared to meet it,
For few seconds, though, it was dead
lock. Then l heard a faint voice, which
seemed to come from Franz, calling for help.
Somehow or other, but how hardly know
to this day, Burns SO managed to slaeken the
rope that was enabled to scramble up ON tc
the arete again, and then the three Of us set
to work to haul up Franz. 1t was not an
easy matter, but presently an ashen face ap-
pcared over the edge, and with some help
from himself we succeeded in raising Franz
10 position beside us.
He was badly shaken, and the horror of
the situation, as well it might, had clearly af-
fectel lis nerves Until rescued his life lit
orally hung upon thread for be had re-
manned suspended over an awful precipice
many thousand feet in height, with nothing
but the rope round his waist between him
and certain destruction. His face was very
white. aAl small wound on his forehead,
from which the blood was slowly trucking,
gave him Il CHASTITY appearance; but there
WIS a strange look in his eyes as he grasped
nv hands and exclaimed with all the energy
q deep gratitude:
Herr, YOU have saved my life. Think not
that l shall forget. Mark this. You will
one day be in difficulty, in danger; but fear
not, Franz VIII be there, and he viii have
come to save your life"
He was greatly excited, and it was to this
fact that l felt inclined to attribute his
IL.
ness in the manner be spoke which impressed
me deeply in spite of myself, and with an in
ward presentinent q can call it nothing else
that some day or other they would inevitably
come true
From what we learned subsequently it ap-
peared that in spite of Franz precautions,
our upward track had in one place passed
over portion Of the cornice. Franz had be-
| come aware Of this, but in trying to avoid
| the danger in the descent had brought about
the very thing he feared, the touch of his
axe having started the great snow cornice,
forty feet or so OF which doubled up and
| bounded down the mountain side carving
| Franz along with it. As matter of fact, it
was a very narrow escape for all Of us. for.
| had any other member of tho party gone
| through the snow as well as Franz, the others
| could not have held, and must have been
| dragged down too. l shuddered involun-
| tarily as gazed into the abyss into which we
t should have fallen, and thought that there
| would not have been much left of US by the
/ time we reached the bottoml
| No further incident occurred during the
| descent but, from having to 60 slowly on
! Franz's account. it was not till late in the
/ hot i1aol- RI
| Two days later said good-by to Franz,
| who seemed getting well over his accident
and made my way back to England, leaving
| Burns to carry Oh career of conquest which
| the admirable weather up 20 the close OF tbe
season gave him every facility for doing.
When | took leave of Franz that time al
the Rifle, did not think that should never
more set eyes on Linn Did say never more'
| Yes, never more, at least in this life.
| Il was in December Of that same year that
| ] heard of Francs death He fell victim TO
| his passion for chamois hunting 1t ap-
peared that he had been cut one day after n
heavy fall Of SNOW and had persisted in an
avalanche. his body being swept away, no one
knew whittier Nothing but his hat and the
shattered remains Of lis rife. indeed. were
| ever found of him again, and it was only
| by their recovery that it was guessed what
his fate had been
| 10 lose Franz was like losing al old friend.
Sadly | thought over his many admirable
| qualities, qualities so seldom combined in one
Of his class-his truth and honesty, his cheer
| fulness and good nature, his skill, bis courage
| il. moments of danger; and then l called to
mind that last expedition which We took to-
| gethcr tpity that it should have been the last
and how near the end had been that day To
what purpose had his life been spared but
| these few months longer: And as l thought
| of a sudden those words of his came back to
me with force positively startling.
| You will one day be in difficulty, il
| danger. but fear not; Franz will be there,
and he will have come to save your life"
Poor fellow It was scarce worth while to
think about 1t. Unless the grave gave up
| its dead Franz could never now redeem his
promise.